Soft, warm lips left the smell of peanut butter and buzz of surprise lingering on my mouth. The smooch was planted quickly and strategically during recess. Clay, with his brawny third-grade swagger, delivered it. He was the biggest boy in class and I scarcely knew he existed. It was Sammy, with his dark eyes and coffee-colored skin, who made my heart swell.

Researchers say that ninety percent of us remember details of our first kiss. In fact, according to science, kissing causes our brain to create a chemical cocktail that can give us a natural high and make us want to do it again. Who doesn’t want that?

Recent studies found some that in cultures, there is no romantic kiss. There is the social kiss of comfort, hello, goodbye, or a congratulatory smack, but the romantic kiss of attraction and love isn’t practiced everywhere. Surprising, right?

Human beings aren’t the only mammals that kiss. The Bonobo ape will kiss socially in much the same way we do. Of course, we do share 97.8 percent of DNA with them. Is kissing simply in our genetic code?

A kiss is how we communicate our expression of fondness, love, desire, and intimacy. A lover’s kiss can be thrilling, sending shock waves from our lips to our toes. When a kiss is just right, it might lead to any outcome. One truth is certain; one good kiss leads to another.

Most of us remember our first kiss, usually from third or fourth grade. But how about the first deep, wet, sensual kiss that started an explosion of our senses? The one that transported us to a place where only lips, tongue, skin, and more of everything mattered. Now that was a kiss.

I am forever marked with the delightful imprint of my first third-grade kiss, and for that, I’m grateful. I do hope Clay out grew his love for peanut-butter kisses and moved on to something less – peanut buttery.

Science tells us that kissing makes us feel good. It lifts our mood, creates positive feelings and thoughts, helps us feel hopeful, and sends a warm message of love. February is undeniably the month of celebrating our love, and what better way to do that than with a kiss?

Lift yourself up. Lift someone else up. Share the euphoric drug of love with a kiss and let the good feeling heal you.

Nita Lapinski

Nita Lapinski leads workshops designed to inspire healing and forgiveness as a way of being in the world. She is the author of Habits That Heal, The Knowing and The Meditation Handbook for Beginners available on Amazon.